KuKu May Be Both Blessing and Curse for TNC
Carlo “Kuku” Palad’s surprise announcement that he’ll be playing under TNC’s banner may come with a few interesting situations for the Filipino Dota 2 team.
In an announcement made right before TNC’s double-header series against Fnatic Dota 2 today, TNC Pro Team revealed that their star support, Gio “WinterGSmallSon” de Ocampo, will be sidelined due to health issues. In his place, former midlaner for Mineski, Kuku will serve as a stand-in while WinterGSmallSon recuperates.
But beyond the implications to team dynamics and TNC’s style of play, the decision to get Kuku might ask some important questions for TNC’s future road to The International.
From core to support
WinterGSmallSon’s short career has caught the attention of analysts. In 26 games played for TNC, WinterGSmallSon contributed greatly to their 20 wins. His most successful hero, Vengeful Spirit, has a staggering 68% win rate in Southeast Asian (SEA) Dota 2 games, with 17 wins and eight losses.
In his stead, Kuku will take up his role of support. Now, Kuku has played almost exclusively as a core player in his career in professional Dota 2, with only a handful of games played as support.
In 227 games for Mineski, Kuku played as Chen only once against Team G7 at the SEA Kappa tournament. Today’s matches against Fnatic Dota are his only other support games logged as a professional Dota 2 player.
It is important to note however that despite Kuku’s inexperience at the role, the metagame and TNC’s overall play style can make accommodations for him. As the SEA Dota 2 metagame continues to revolve around high-impact supports contributing in the early to mid game in getting their laners ahead, Kuku is in a unique position to play as a farming support with the goal of transitioning into a secondary carry.
In the same match against Team G7, Kuku demonstrated range in playing Chen. While able to play Chen (a big requirement and part of the allure that made him desirable to a team like TNC), Kuku’s effectiveness truly shines in a support such as Enchantress or Winter Wyvern. Supports that can sustain themselves and impact the game in more visible ways.
Kuku’s experience playing under other notable supports from the Philippines (namely Mark “Cast” Pilar) and his instincts as a core player can become a welcome addition to TNC.
In a statement released by TNC, the organization said that the decision to pick up Kuku was based on his, “…unparalleled experience in the professional scene.”
In a statement, TNC’s owner and general manager, Eric Redulfin, said:
“This is a golden opportunity for our team to become stronger. Kuku is one of the best talents our country has and he is more than welcome in our organization.”
A few tweaks to the play and composition of the team can allow Kuku to introduce a different support dimension to TNC. WinterGSmallSon’s role of playing a selfless position 5 support with great intuition on roaming and counter-ganking are more than expertly picked up by the best player on TNC: their captain, Nico “eyyou” Barcelon. This frees up Kuku to take up a carry-oriented 4 position support or at the very least, an item and farm dependent support with devastating skill sets.
Kuku’s addition to TNC might be the missing ingredient that can push the team over the hump of near-finishes. Kuku has the talent and raw potential to drag TNC to the finish line, particularly in late-game decision-making where TNC suffers. His experience playing for a team like Mineski (who, on occassion does live in the late-game, particularly against other SEA teams), will be his biggest contribution.
A snag in the plan
There is, however, the not-insignificant matter of TNC’s registered roster for the Manila Major and The International 6. Because TNC only registered one substitute player, the team cannot use the talents of Kuku to qualify for Manila.
Given that Fnatic and MVP are 80% assured to be directly invited into the Manila Major, TNC is almost guaranteed to be invited into the Main SEA qualifiers for the Spring tournament.
LOCKED. With the Majors registration for the Spring tournament in Manila locked, TNC will be forced to play without their new acquisition if they wish to participate in the SEA qualifiers as opposed to the Open Qualifiers.
If TNC wish to play in the Manila Major with Kuku, then TNC will have to face the dreaded open qualifiers.
The caustic and chaotic nature of open qualifiers, where teams must compete Best-of-1s, cannot be understated. Anything can happen in a Best-of-1 that even top SEA teams can lose to any line-up.
Anything from sudden pocket strategies to internet infrastructure problems can see a team such as TNC lose to a random qualifier squad.
As if the risks of a Best-of-1 wasn’t enough, winning an open qualifier won’t even guarantee participation into the Major. Should TNC decide to play with Kuku, they will have to win the equivalent of two marathon events. A needless layer for the team, given that they are almost guaranteed a slot as one of the eight invited teams to the Main SEA qualifier.
TNC will be able to play with Kuku in every other tournament except the Majors qualifiers. This presents an interesting question for TNC: Should they succeed with Kuku, will they risk playing in the Open Qualifier just to keep their momentum going?
And what of WinterGSmallSon? Once he recuperates from health troubles, will he be able to come back on the team’s starting roster? Will TNC move Kuku into the midlane and push out John Linuel “Teehee” Abanto?
Kuku’s addition to TNC might be both blessing and curse. The wonder is in figuring out how TNC will leverage their acquisition to finally claim a title and attend an international LAN from SEA.
Banner photo by ESL | Team Liquid Wiki
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